mass market paperback, 335 pages
English language
Published March 7, 1997 by Bantam Books.
Anne Frank's extraordinary diary, written in the Amsterdam attic where she and her family hid from the Nazis for two years, has become a world classic and a timeless testament to the human spirit. Now, in a new edition enriched by many passages originally withheld by her father, we meet an Anne more real, more human, and more vital than ever. Here she is first and foremost a teenage girl—stubbornly honest, touchingly vulnerable, in love with life. She imparts her deeply secret world of soul-searching and hungering for affection, rebellious clashes with her mother, romance and newly discovered sexuality, and wry, candid observations of her companions. Facing hunger, fear of discovery and death, and the petty frustrations of such confined quarters, Anne writes with adult wisdom and views beyond her years. Her story is that of every teenager, lived out in conditions few teenagers have ever known. --back cover
Anne Frank's extraordinary diary, written in the Amsterdam attic where she and her family hid from the Nazis for two years, has become a world classic and a timeless testament to the human spirit. Now, in a new edition enriched by many passages originally withheld by her father, we meet an Anne more real, more human, and more vital than ever. Here she is first and foremost a teenage girl—stubbornly honest, touchingly vulnerable, in love with life. She imparts her deeply secret world of soul-searching and hungering for affection, rebellious clashes with her mother, romance and newly discovered sexuality, and wry, candid observations of her companions. Facing hunger, fear of discovery and death, and the petty frustrations of such confined quarters, Anne writes with adult wisdom and views beyond her years. Her story is that of every teenager, lived out in conditions few teenagers have ever known. --back cover
Every person should read this at least once in their lifetime
What better book to take in than this classic memoir of two years spent within the four walls of a secret annex? Of course I came to this book knowing about its reputation as a moving and spirited account of the down to earth details of what it was like to hide from the Gestapo and SS, and about the tragic fate of everyone described. It lived up to all of this, with the tremendously sympathetic personality of Anne and of the others she sheltered with shining in every entry. The philosophical passages too, where she thinks about her future, about ethics, and about the violent conflict surrounding her added to the spell. I was surprised what a coherent narrative these pages turned out to be, largely without editing of the events and personalities, and can see how it represents a literary achievement as well as its historical significance. The …
What better book to take in than this classic memoir of two years spent within the four walls of a secret annex? Of course I came to this book knowing about its reputation as a moving and spirited account of the down to earth details of what it was like to hide from the Gestapo and SS, and about the tragic fate of everyone described. It lived up to all of this, with the tremendously sympathetic personality of Anne and of the others she sheltered with shining in every entry. The philosophical passages too, where she thinks about her future, about ethics, and about the violent conflict surrounding her added to the spell. I was surprised what a coherent narrative these pages turned out to be, largely without editing of the events and personalities, and can see how it represents a literary achievement as well as its historical significance. The inconveniences this year has imposed on me are insignificant in comparison to the deprivation she underwent, making the essential optimism even more striking. The tragedy of her death hit me the way I imagine it would affect anyone with an open heart.
The audiobook reading I listened too was a very old one originally issued on cassette tapes, complete with instructions to fast-forward and turn the recordings over to the second side. The narration by Susan Adams was first-rate. When I was born the events were about twenty five years in the past, not that long as I see it now, and I wonder how it will be for children of today to experience this account now that ninety years have passed since the war began.
3.5 the play is better
